You’ve just increased your training days but you can’t afford another gi just yet. You need to wash and quickly dry your gi to be ready for the next training session. But, you’re wondering, what is the fastest way to dry my gi? Here’s everything you need to know about drying your gi fast after washing it.
How comfortable you are in your gi determines how you perform. A gi should feel comfortable on your body because you will be wearing it for hours on the mat. A well-dried gi is a comfortable gi. Here are a couple of methods you can use to dry your gi, the last one being the fastest;
- Hang Your gi to Dry on a Clothing Line
- Use a Fan
- Iron with caution
- Use a gi rack
- Use a dryer
- Combine drying methods
However, before diving into discussing the fastest way to dry your gi, here are a few things you need to know about how to wash and care for your gi.
Things You Need To Know Before Washing Your GI
One mistake during the washing stage and you won’t have a gi to dry at all. Here are some important things you should know about washing your gi.
- Never Use Bleach
Stubborn stains on your gi can tempt you to use bleach. Regardless of how tough a stain is, DO NOT use bleach. Using bleach to wash a gi causes the fibers of the fabric to become weak. Over time, the fibers deteriorate. When you see someone’s gi tear right in the middle of a fight, chances are that the individual used bleached on the gi at some point. There are alternatives that you can use.
- Consider Vinegar
Yes, vinegar. The best part about this hack is that vinegar is quite affordable and is easily available. Vinegar will help you with that tough stain you want to remove from your white gi. Use just one cup of it along with your usual laundry detergent. Vinegar will whiten, soften, and freshen your gi without damaging it.
You do not have to worry about the smell. After evaporation, vinegar disperses and the smell disappears. To remove a stain, spray some undiluted vinegar on it and then wash the stained part. Vinegar is much more effective on white gi’s.
- Lemon Juice
Lemons possess many benefits and one of them is that lemon juice can help with whitening your white gi’s. Just like vinegar, use lemon juice when you need to remove a stain on your gi, and the gi will not only whiten but will also smell fresh.
- Baking Soda
Use of baking soda is another amazing hack that you should embrace if you want to soften, whiten, or freshen your gi. Half a cup of baking soda combined with your detergent will leave your gi thanking you. To remove a stain, mix baking soda and water to create a paste and then apply that paste directly to the stained area. It works best on white gi’s.
- Dishwasher Detergent
The dishwasher detergent is an easily available product if you do not already have it in the house. Dishwasher detergent helps with whitening white gi’s. However, it is important for you to make sure that the detergent is chlorine-free. Chlorine acts as a bleaching agent and can cause your gi to fade. It can also affect the quality of the fabric. Once again, try this on your white gi.
- Wash Gi’s By Themselves
As the saying goes, better safe than sorry. You might assume that none of your other clothes bleeds but color bleed is a common occurrence. Never mix your gi (especially your white one) with regular colored clothes when washing.
Discovering that your favorite white gi turned purple or pink is not humorous.
Not only is stuffing clothes alongside your gi dangerous for your gi but it also harmful to your washer. Filling your washer with many clothes can reduce the efficiency of the washer. A gi is heavier than normal clothes and stuffing it with other clothes can create banging sounds or even cause a washer to stop completely.
- Use Cold Water When Washing Your GI
If you do not want your gi to shrink, then wash it with cold water. Washing a gi with cold water possesses several other benefits. It is a good way of preserving colors, removing stains, and conserving the integrity of clothes.
In case of a stubborn stain, you’ll have to soak your gi in cold water with a detergent of your choice. Here is how you can soak your gi in case of stubborn stains;
- Fill a tab and make sure the water does not drain.
- Add your washing substances
- Mix it up using an available tool such as the handle side of a broom
- Immerse your white gis in the tab
- Use the broom as if you were washing using your hand
- Soak for as long as you possibly can
- Transfer to a washing machine and wash normally
Let’s face it, a quality gi costs quite some money and if you only have one, you do not want to have to wear a wet gi because you washed and dried it the wrong way. Therefore, take extra caution when washing your gi.
The Fastest Way to Dry Your Gi
Now you know some basics about how to wash and care for your gi. Here’s a look at the fastest way to dry your gi.
- Hang Your Gi to Dry on a Clothing Line
Using a clothesline in the open is one of the most effective ways to dry your clothes. Therefore, hang your gi on a clothesline. However, you need to be careful when air-drying your gi under direct sunlight. Ultraviolet rays have both positive and negative effects on clothes. The rays destroy bacteria on your clothes and sunlight also helps remove any odors that might have been present on your gi. However, if you expose your gi to too much sunlight it might shrink and fade
Hanging your gi outside when the weather is both sunny and windy works well and fast. Hang drying your gi not only helps in fast drying. It also helps in maximizing the life of your gi and minimizing shrinkage.
- Use a Fan
Using a fan sounds like an obvious solution that many would think of, but if you are here, it means that maybe this idea has not yet crossed your mind. Consider hanging your gi in the same room with a fan. You can also decide to hang the gi on a hanger and set two fans next to it in opposite directions. Your gi should dry within a few hours.
However, there is a downside with using a fan. Fans can result in a stiff gi that feels like cardboard.
- Iron With Caution
Ironing is definitely one of the fastest ways to dry clothes, but you should be extremely careful when ironing your gi. Ironing a gi can ruin patches and the fabric. If you must iron, turn your gi inside out and do not iron over patches.
- Use a Gi Rack
You can look up how a gi rack looks like on Pinterest and try making one or have someone make it for you. When you use a gi rack, hang your gi without placing the sleeves over the other body of the gi. The sleeves hang freely away from the other parts of your gi; thus, your entire gi dries faster. A gi rack is not complicated to make.
- Use a Dryer
If you do not mind shrinkage, then you can try using a dryer to dry your gi. The advantage of a dryer is that it does not cause your gi to become stiff. A downside with this method is that it can cause shrinkage. You can try using the lowest settings on the dryer to protect your gi. You can also choose to air-dry your gi for a while and then put in a dryer on medium heat for around five minutes to soften it.
Also, try using a tumble dry but without any heat if you are worried about shrinkage. Include a fabric softener in the process.
- Combine Drying Methods
You might think that unhanging your gi when it starts raining and putting it in a basket with other clothes then drying it at a later time is wise. Doing so might result in your gi smelling, and that means that you will need to re-wash it. In the end, your gi will take longer to dry.
Instead of unhanging a wet gi and keeping it balled up in a bag or basket with other clothes, try unhanging it and use a fan or dryer to dry it further. When you remove your gi from the clothesline, and it is not yet dry, hang it in a room with a fan and let it dry indoors.
You can also embrace the use of a clothing line plus the gi rack. For example, when it starts raining, unhang your gi and hang it indoors on the rack that you made or purchased. The main thing to remember here is that you should not store a wet gi claiming that you will hang it later.
There you have it. Apply any of the methods and your gis will love you for that. Your gi is your armor and armor needs care so it can protect you. As much as you want it to dry fast, remember to always take care of it in the process.